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Paupers Drop
Sitemap '--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---' . . . . . . . . . . . . Paupers Drop (Game Level) ' '--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---''' 5 Map Floor Levels (lowest to highest altitude): This is an example of a existing BS2 game 'level' (BS1/BS2/MP/DLC) expanded with all the inaccessible parts added for a MMORPG map. Paupers Drop Map of 5 levels, amended to show spaces we didn't have access to in the Solo game : --- --- --- --- --- '''Wrong side of the tracks ... Paupers Drop : Paupers Drop "Maintenance Junction 17" should be a 'junction' of multiple routes. Tracks should go in/out from more than just the AE 'Short Line' that we follow in BS2. A second Station closely connected to the first is logical (to allow passengers to transfer between lines/routes). The AE map we are show ( http://rapturerebornmmorpg.wikia.com/wiki/File:AE_map.jpg ) does not really indicate another line intersecting this 'junction', but it may have been realigned before the time of the game. There are certainly many tracks outside in the Ocean nearby that could represent the second route (look out the windows). The Second station (making it a proper 'junction') is added in an upper level where its N-S track would clear the other (W-E) track it crosses). A stairwell and elevator between the station levels allowed passengers to switch train lines. The added (N-S) line traveled thru the 'Paupers Drop' interior (but that WAS before it was occupied/redeveloped). The second N-S track (used for local maintenance) is stub-ended (if it continued it would have had to intersect the first station). It has a turntable and 2 storage/maintenance bays. The turntable could also be used as an end-of-line turnaround for whatever line its track connects to out the south end. The map's southern structures (Downtown and Market) are actually almost a level lower in height (because of the stairs down) but are shown in simplified continuity with the northern structures. The biggest distortion is the AE tracks (near the ceiling) would be on the 4th level of the northern part and on the 5th level in the southern. Look at how large an interior the Sinclair Deluxe actually was (all that green marked) which can be surmised by the extent of the viewed game level paths on other floors (interior space shown is all extracted from extending existing walls -- with green for those directly indicated by doors/windows/similar floorplans and orange for the remaining space). A full third floor full of rooms similar to the first two was accessible way back when the place was not yet wrecked. Added a 'grand staircase' near the middle of the hotel. It was bizarre that the atrium area had no staircase and only an elevator and only that small staircase all the way near the back . Observe in the game, those massive (red) girders and ceiling above much of this level (including in those interior water areas that should not really need a ceiling) -- is there a building up above there ?? A Warehouse for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloons ?? The entire complex has the massive concrete foundations and thick reinforced concrete structural walls (Concrete was one thing that could be manufactured locally and thus was cheaper than other materials). Interesting thing - no internal Pressure bulkheads in Sinclair Deluxe (if one section goes, it wipes out the whole place). That held construction expenses down, and if it flooded, then it could be pumped out and new tenants moved in to continue the rent income. The View out of windows near Limbo Room Entrance is wrong -- in reality the mass of the Sinclair Deluxe largely obscures the horizon 'Skydome' view. Limbo room is on the deepest level - does that make it a deep 'Dive' ?? The 'Market' ceilings are starting to fall in and those little jacks are supposed to hold it up ?? Even funnier was one set of jacks being located ontop of a flimsy roof and there's no wall/beams underneath it to support whatever massive weight is pressing down. If that's the maintenance competency of Lambs little group, then they wont have to wait for Lamb to murder them before they all sooner die in sudden icy wetness. A floor below street level was added to most buildings. Foundation and Basement for the Sumps (drainage systems), utilities and miscellaneous services. Nasty damp tunnels with who knows what in them.... The Sinclair Deluxe was a good sized building when all five floors were accessible - quite alot larger than the bits we can get to in the Solo game. The two additional lower floors are used for Utilities and various Services, making 5 total. (Service floor in Sinclair Deluxe for food/laundry/staff for back when it was a 'hotel'). The Sinclair Deluxe appears now with significantly more apartment/room units to hold a more realistic number of residents/tenants. Before Lamb's "commune-ists", all those knocked thru walls were still intact . The Sinclair Deluxe's construction is largely a heavy/thick reinforced concrete shell with 'compression plate' floors to reinforce the outer walls. It was NOT designed by the Wales Brothers. The Decor is thin veneer or wallpaper ontop of concrete or plaster lathing, and tile work in bathrooms. The basement level has the required sumps and pumps typical to all Rapture buildings. The general run down state of the whole district - remember this was 7+ years after Sinclair was no longer 'in charge' and 'The Rapture Family' was running things. The Sinclair Deluxe looks like it WAS a pretty good place at one time (compare it to Fontaine's "Home for the Poor" 7 years earlier in BS1). Note - proper bulkhead sealing doors for AE 'repair' tracks (in the old maintenance facility up near the ceiling above you) should be on the water side (or embedded in walls) to seal properly (and well braced to withstand the massive water force which presses against them. Minor detail - first coupla 'play-throughs' I didn't even look up to see them. The Limbo Room looks like the only thing actually lower than the original Atlantic Express building structure (maybe it was a Sump originally 'hollowed out' for the pumps up above??) Those interior water spaces between the buildings (roofed over) are odd. They don't look like they were meant to be a swimming pool. Maybe Sinclair was diversifying and incorporated a "Fish Farm" to employ more 'unfortunates' and to "cut out the middleman" (Fontaine - who probably was manipulating fish prices). A Sinclair Fried Fish Delivery business venture ??? "To The Dump" - south passage (blocked) that went to yet another building structure ??? Maybe not a 'City Dump' as mentioned by a developer, but just a 'commentary' of the really run down state of that area. Note how The district used more inexpensive 'port-hole' style sea windows. Not being as large as so many of the huge rectangular pane windows (we see elsewhere), requires less massive wall reinforcement. This is more what I would expect in the various industrial districts where there is really little need for large windows and their added expense (Neptunes Bounty for example of unneeded HUGE windows). Pipes/conduits in walls/floors embedded in cement - bad design - increases corrosion and stress and complicates future repairs. False walls usually hide pipes (for aesthetics) or just leave the pipes exposed against the bare concrete wall. The structural concrete is usually constructed first and space is left for all the utility pipes to be added later once the structure is water tight. I also note that many of the broken sections of concrete walls correctly show rebar and other embedded reinforcements, except that the damage/break patterns would NOT have broken off the rebar - the concrete would be shattered and possibly fall away but the metal would remain. Why don't the tracks up near the ceiling (of 'Maintenance Junction 17') have any maintenance platforms or catwalks (or remains of them) to allow work on the traincars ??? The lower floor (the player runs about in) was the 'hollowed out underneath' area that Sinclair talks about. Maybe the work platforms were removed BEFORE they fell on the inhabitants (after the facility was deactivated along with most AE passenger service, though they probably also wouldn't leave traincars up there). It was redeveloped by Sinclair -- and things falling and killing customers is bad for business. I added catwalks to show where they were (up integrated into the track structure) for the East 'maintenance' track. Having the catwalks/work platforms in for BS2 might have given the player a more 3D environment to play around in (or to make use of for tactics, or setting for yet another interesting choreographed situation ...) . If it (the location that became Paupers Drop) was "Hollowed out" -- shouldn't that (lowest) south east building be dug into the seabed (and with no windows that low ... those ones you see at the Limbo Room entrance area shouldn't exist)??? The first 'Paupers Drop' section with the Diner is actually AT the same level of the AE station. Perhaps Sinclair's (Re)development was a bit more substantial than just grabbing a little existing 'hollowed out' space. The Sinclair Deluxe was not part of Maintenance Junction 17 original buildings, and instead was a substantial addition almost as large as the rest of the complex (level). Big Art Deco statues you see in the inside water area - they are concrete, and must've been on sale for Sinclair to pay for them. The ones inside (metal ones), are of divers with wrenches, symbolic of the RR construction workers - probably part of the original AE structure. Sinclair was always one for an opportunity, hence the storage rental spaces and mausoleum in the lower levels of the Sinclair Deluxe. I'm not sure if he would have his advertisements say that: "Once you went to the Deluxe, you never have to leave". The large (red) metal supports out in the water just east of the Train Station makes it look like there was a further high-roof building extension in that area at one time. The additional areas (orange/green) would have contained additional residences/offices/shops (for local convenience - otherwise locals would have to take a train to get ordinary things) : * Grocery Store * Liquor Store * Employment Agency * Appliance repair shop * Pool Hall/Betting Parlor * A cheap Bar (with 'backrooms') * Tattoo Parlor * Coin Laundry * Pigeon Coops on the roofs (tasty tasty pigeons and eggs). * Barber Shop * One or more Sweatshops * Constable Substation * Beauty Parlor Looking at the entire Paupers Drop map (even expanded), it is not a very large area to live in. How expensive were the Atlantic Express trains to ride (to get elsewhere, to more open space) ? It must have been not too expensive - probably like riding a subway or city bus system for ordinary fares (Paupers Drop has no other obvious connection to the City). Still, it would be money the 'poor' people living there probably could ill afford. Other parts of the City had a continuous 'Street' system connecting them, but Paupers Drop was not originally planned as a residential or business area and thus was left unconnected. --- --- --- Things to Do to Make Paupers Drop a Better Place to Live (post BS2) ''': * First, change the name (ie - 'Happy Town' or 'New Deal Town'). * Next, fire the old management (might as well get Sinclair back, it didn't look a tenth as bad when he ran the place). * Repair the roof properly, so everyone isn't likely to be drowned/crushed at any moment, and fix all those slow leaks. * Haul the bodies and trash away - nothing smells of 'hopeless' more than abandoned corpses left in the streets. * Give the place a new coat of paint (and fix that shredded wallpaper). * Get rid of the Lamb Cult paraphernalia - no more delusions, please. Ding Dong Sofia Lamb is Dead ... * Boarded up windows and doors - gone. Debris blocking passages - gone. Shrieking insane armed people walking the streets - gone. * Reactivate the AE routes so that business will be able to find its way here (also remove/repair the wrecked traincars). * New deals with other areas of the city - nice clean redeveloped low-cost housing - THAT is in demand (attractive when you see what everywhere else looks like). * Chamber of Commerce - get those businesses back - get the Diner hopping again - get that Fish Farm inside the Sinclair Deluxe running again. * Reorganize Security to protect the residents, not to subjugate them as Sofia Lamb had. * Get something more interesting on all those TVs - "The Delta Show" kinda bombed. --- --- --- '''Locations History : * First it was a AE Train Maintenance Station * Then after being rebuilt/redeveloped (largely by Sinclair and adding his new 'affordable Sinclair Deluxe Hotel) maybe something like "Sinclair Station" ??? * Then after he was run off by Sofia Lamb and the place was left with little maintenance under her delusional regime (and some appointed 'ward boss') and was inhabited by 'Rapture Family' squatters for ~7 years, it became the cesspit called Paupers Drop (name alludes to the destitute/hopeless people frequently resorting to hanging themselves/suicide). --- --- --- . . . . . . . . Paupers Drop 'Tenement' - (Sorry It Hardly Is) : The writers tried to paint Sinclair as a slumlord, by showing the "Sinclair Deluxe" in a decrepit/rundown state, and labeled it a 'Tenement'. But they seem to have 'missed the boat' (and ocean, and planet) in their clumsy attempt to smear him for plot purposes. The only bathroom in Pauper's Drop is in the Sinclair Deluxe Apartments (which might as well be renamed to "The Sofia Lamb Home For The Dangerously Delusional" and "Auntie Graces Asylum" ). THAT'S NOT A TENEMENT !! ... *THIS* IS A TENEMENT !!! pix Compare the features of The Sinclair Deluxe as it was while Sinclair operated it --- NOT spoilt as seen 7 years later, long after he was no longer proprietor (and Sofia Lamb and her ward-boss/commissar Grace let the place go to hell). Deluxe Features : * Wallpaper !! * Doors with working locks * Lights * General lack of huge holes blasted in walls and burning gas pipes. * Fireplaces * Full Bathrooms and Kitchens * Mailroom and Inn Keepers Desk * Window Vistas * Multiple Spacious Rooms Sinclair probably had it build during the economic upheaval around 1953 (when mass-unemployment resulted when most city-building ended - allegedly causing a Recession/Depression). Sinclair then ran the place til sometime after Ryan was killed (and Sofia Lamb 'crawled out of the woodwork' to start her collectivist 'hell on earth'). --- --- --- We see it NOT At Its Best : ' Paupers Drop back in the 'old days' had well-off Rapturites visiting it - (ex- the Limbo Room... that poster on the wall) and probably 'other' sordid attractions back when the City was 'normal' (and the place had been fixed up alot from being a 'Hooverville' by Sinclair. Would it likely become such a haunt if the place was such a dangerous slum (BTW, This isn't a place you take your Auto or a Taxi directly to the sidewalk in front, like what 'Rich People' did when they were 'slumming' some of the 'exciting' spots back in the Real World ... like NYC 'Jazz' Harlem in the 20s). --- --- --- '''Redevelopment of 'Paupers Drop' ' : There are Businesses : * A Reliable Pharmacy in Paupers Drop? * A bookstore called 'Books' * Rock Flanigan P.I. * The Jet Postal in the Sinclair Deluxe ... * The Atlantic Express (station and old maintenance facility), * Hotel "Luxury Rooms" * Fontaine's Clinic * Flowers * Apartments * Fishbowl Diner is more than a simple 'worker cafeteria' * Pawnshop * The blocked storefront where Quack Medicine is being manufactured * A Grocery store which is no longer there. Paupers/indigents/poor/skidrowers/squatters simply don't build things like all that. Parts of 'Paupers Drop' by BS2 time (and I would assume earlier in BS1 times) actually looks to have been planned, and well built (even though the wall scrawlings say 'workers' built Paupers Drop, but that would be ONLY the 'shanty town'/Squatter-ville which was there before). The place looks like it was redeveloped by someone with money, perhaps Sinclair taking advantage of the slump/decline in the construction businesses. He WOULD want various conveniences for the residents of his new 'Hotel'. 'Hotel' was a common term which very often was something functioning as an Apartment building What we see in Paupers Drop, at one point, was NOT quite any kind of 'shantytown'. It is the poor condition seen after 8 years of 'new management' under Sofia Lamb and Grace Holloway that we see in BS2 Paupers Drop. Creating NEW buildings in Rapture would be costly, so what would the Sinclair Deluxe building have been BEFORE it was a 'Hotel' (for it to be reused). Probably something related to the AE operations. It would be stripped down to the external shell, and then the interior Structuring rebuilt to what was needed ... (Reusing the basic pressure-shell construction methodology of Rapture ...) Why the rest of that location (all the machinery up near the ceiling) wasn't likewise cleaned up ? Perhaps the AE was still in operation, just no longer being a maintenance site (with the reduction of the Mk1 AE across Rapture, it may have been redundant and used for storage). --- --- --- The presence of the businesses implies additional residential areas with immediate access nearby to justify them (even with the residential capacity after I've enlarged the Sinclair Deluxe). --- --- --- 'That 'Paupers Drop' Scrawled AE Route Sign ' : Why write only that ? There could have been (with more imagination) all kinds of slogans/comments (all over the place). How 'bout : * 'Welcome to The Land of Lamb' * 'Death to the Unbelievers' (with a 'hand' nailed next to that). * 'We sacrifice for the Good of all' * 'Our Utopia is coming' (what collectivists have always promised but never seem to deliver) * "F#$% LAMB" (crossed out) (an obvious detractor being 'corrected') * "Cindy is a Poopyhead" (a LS scrawling in crayon ...) * 'Prentis you need to fix the broken doors' And different ones on each Station's sign (you do an overlay Asset over the same basic sign) - you even can do different degrees of grime and damage of the sign boards lettering) --- --- --- '''Paupers Drop "Slum" -- Hooverville ... Really ??? : The vagueness/brevity of the games Audio Diaries 'strikes again' (They don't really elaborate on WHEN they were recorded, or of WHAT the 'then' situation is they are talking about). Paupers Drop was no doubt originally little more than an ad hoc hobocamp/favela 'under the tracks', transitioning from a RR workcamp to a place where some of Rapture's destitute found shelter ( likely happening during an early economic distress around the time city construction ended ). A 'slum'. But THEN it appears to have been redeveloped with real money behind it (Lamb might spring for a soup kitchen, but not the capitalistic enterprises we saw there) - Which again (my theory) sounds like Sinclair's doing : Planned Development around his brand new 'Hotel' -- to improve the locale to bring in (more than indigent) customers for his 'affordable housing'. The area probably had a better (re)name (like "Sinclair Station" or "Opportunity Corners" or "Great Chainsville" ? or somesuch). Years later (BS2) we see "Paupers Drop" (regaining its old name ? Or was it later worse the way Lamb ran things ?) in a quite deteriorated state (by even BS1 times, most of Rapture looks pretty 'slummy', as generally, Splicers aren't the 'This Old House' fixer-upper types ), so we see bare traces of how spiffy the area might have once looked. You have to take what Sinclair says with a grain of salt, as he denigrates many people/things/ideas and uses many colorful phrases ('slob', 'in his rat hole', 'fat cat', 'someone in a fancy hat', 'a big fat hooker' , 'this two-bit carny ride' .....'slum' ). Sinclair didn't think highly of people who gave up, but with practicality (which was his hallmark) built a place to accommodate working people who were still holding on and sought the options they could afford. When did you last find Fireplaces in a 'slum' apartment ? You find those in the Sinclair Deluxe. Perhaps 'Paupers Drop' had been a 'slum' before Sinclair showed up (" a Hooverville" as Aunty Grace says ... It likely may have been even below 'slum'), and then reverted again later after Sofia Lamb's sycophant wardboss ( Aunty Grace again ... ) ran the place. It would be interesting in a Flashback to see what that area (it NOT called Paupers Drop at the time) looked like back in its redeveloped (non-slumlike) improved form (a poster advertises the Limbo Room as a destination for Jazz by well-to-do citizens - like what happened in Harlem in the 20s). --- --- --- --- --- . .